A woman who woke up and couldn't feel her toes was told she had a rapidly progressing brain cancer just over halfway through her pregnancy.
Laura Mahon, 31, from St Helens, had to deliver her baby prematurely at 30 weeks after she was diagnosed with glioblastoma after noticing the symptom in September 2021.
Doctors initially thought her little one might have pressed on a nerve and recommended an MRI scan - but Laura and her husband Danny, 29, ended up having to make the "toughest decision of their lives" and welcome their daughter Sienna Grace Laura Mahon early.
Sienna Grace was born on November 30, 2021, weighing a mere 3.4lbs at Warrington Hospital. Despite battling her own health crisis, Laura discharged herself from the hospital to be with her daughter, who developed pneumothorax - a collapsed lung.
However, on December 9, a follow-up MRI revealed that Laura's tumour had nearly doubled in size. The young family was dealt another devastating blow upon learning that the tumour was inoperable due to its location on her motor cortex, making it unsafe to remove.
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Laura gave birth to her daughter 30 weeks into her pregnancy (Liverpool Echo)
The mum said she looks forward to celebrating Sienna's birthday (Liverpool Echo)Speaking about her ordeal, Laura said: "Being told at 29 that you have inoperable stage four brain cancer and have just two years to live is something you can never prepare yourself for. Hearing that said out loud was a moment I'll never forget." In January 2022, Laura started dual radiotherapy and chemotherapy at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, reports Liverpool Echo. After 10 days, Laura had to stop chemo as her liver was failing, but she was able to continue with radiotherapy until February 2022.
Alarmingly, Laura noticed the return of her initial tumour symptoms, such as numbness in her right arm and an inability to feel her toes. A subsequent scan revealed the grim news that Laura's tumour had spread to the other half of her brain, necessitating a switch to a second chemotherapy drug.
She recounted the harrowing experience: "After one month I had a seizure and an emergency rescan revealed this chemotherapy drug wasn't working. We were heartbroken." Her partner Danny added: "It was at a point where the hospital told me to get my affairs in order and take time off work. We left the room and just started crying. Me and Laura are usually very strong and can get through everything but this was a really tough."
Shortly after starting her third chemotherapy drug Laura was scanned again and the results showed the tumour was having a mixed response to the treatment. Months later, doctors have been "amazed" to learn Laura's scans are stable and have even noticed some shrinkage.
Danny was told to get his family's affairs in order (Liverpool Echo)
Sienna will turn 2 in November (Liverpool Echo)Laura said: "My oncologist said it was amazing news, it's very rare for this to happen this far on. We are over the moon as we were running out of options. There are only four chemotherapy drugs for brain tumours at Clatterbridge and this is the third line of chemo I have had. They [doctors] have told me it's about when it comes back [the tumour growing] not if it comes back. Until then we are just taking everyday as it comes."
Her husband Danny echoed her sentiments, sharing their motivation to create lasting memories for their daughter. He said, "We do it for our daughter so she can have memories with her mummy, I get through it for my wife as I know she would do it for me. We take lots of pictures and videos so that she can look back and remember. We have a scrapbook for her."
Laura said she is now giving herself "little things" to look forward to such as her daughter's 2nd birthday in November, Christmas and Danny's 30th Birthday in January. She added: "I told her [Sienna] I wasn't going to make it to her first birthday so I will cherish this one. We're also getting our wedding pictures redone to have Sienna in them as it will be a nice memory for her to look back on."
Danny has now created a GoFundMe to try and raise funds so Laura can continue to make memories with her family as well funding alternative treatments such as red light and oxygen therapy and giving money to charities "close to their hearts". To donate visit here.
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up The Mirror's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to webhomepage@mirror.co.uk
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